Good morning from Hakuba where there are some clouds around the mountain backdrop but generally it's lovely blue skies above the valley.

It's cold too, proper winter cold. The kind of cold we want on a fine winter morning. -5 degrees on my thermometer just earlier! The snow up there early morning should be good. Snow clouds are expected to move back over us during the day today and then hopefully it's snow later on and through the day tomorrow. Lots of snow please.

A fairly short and early report this morning as there's a few things I want to say...

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A personal message - if you enjoy Hakuba Now and the other reports on SnowJapan, please take a few moments to read this

I just want to take this opportunity to thank the people who have sent in comments regarding these reports when they entered the current lift ticket Giveaway. It is always great to get feedback and lots of different comments.

One of the main talking points, as might be expected, seems to be the snow situation this season.

It has definitely been an odd early chunk of the season in Japan. Hokkaido had a late start but now seems to be doing well, but many parts of Honshu are still in need of more snow and recording much lower snowfall than usual. For many people reading this report who may be visiting from places that are not used to 'Japan normal' amounts of snow, what we have now is good enough and they are of course enjoying their holidays here. I certainly do not want to suggest otherwise.

Those of us who have been here for a long time though know that this season is not the norm, it has been an uncharacteristically late start and lean early season.

For Japan.

Perhaps us Japan long-timers are just so used to seeing large amounts of consistent and heavy snowfall that to not have that happening (yet) feels somehow... wrong. And perhaps we need to - for now - adjust our expectations with that in mind. There is still a lot of season left though and the pattern can definitely change. I'm sure we all agree that we would like to see lots more snow in the coming days and weeks.

It also seems that a lot of you value 'honesty' in reporting. That is absolutely THE most important thing for SnowJapan regarding it's reports, and if it's on SnowJapan you should take it for granted. (SnowJapan would absolutely like to hear about it if you thought that anything that was being posted on any of their reports was questionable in that respect).

SnowJapan is here to bring you honest and trustworthy information, not to sell you a holiday etc in Hakuba or Niseko or Yuzawa or any other area. That's what the website is all about and it will not be changing.

The following is a general comment rather than a Hakuba-specific one:

There are some people who would prefer that our reports were sugar-coated and essentially 'less honest' - perhaps conveniently leaving out information that was less palatable. 'Don't mention rain when it rains'. 'Round up snow numbers'. 'Just don't post anything that is less than positive'... we have been asked these things. Those people should be ashamed of themselves.

The people running SnowJapan (and myself included) believe that the people visiting the mountains want to know the truth - whether that truth be about huge amounts of powder snow, or not enough snow and heavy rain.

If you are one of those people who appreciates SnowJapan for these values - and I truly believe that we all should appreciate it - I encourage you to please let as many people know about the site and it's reports as possible. That is an easy and effective way to support this free service.

The guys over at SnowJapan HQ in Niigata didn't ask me to say any of this by the way, so I hope they don't mind me adding it to the report! Thank you again to everyone who has submitted comments. And thanks to SnowJapan for providing such an excellent service that is valued by many people.

Tsugaike Kogen:Most areas of Tsugaike Kogen are now at least part open.Planned lifts:Almost all of the lifts at Tsugaike Kogen are now operating.Official snow depthTsuga-no-mori: 131cmMaruyama: 40cmKane-no-naru-oka: 35cm

Hakuba Iwatake Snow Field:The North and East courses on Mountain Side are currently open.Planned lifts:Noah Gondola3Sen Line North4Sen Line EastLine LiftOfficial snow depthUpper: 60cmLower: 20cm